Here is the latest Capital Region Skinny from the Greater Capital Association of Realtors. February marked the 13th consecutive month of year over year home price increases in the Capital Region. The Albany real estate market has now seen 13 months of home price increases as compared with the the same month the year before.
From the view we have on the ground, buyer activity has moved from second gear in January 2012 to high gear in March 2013. Monticello has been involved in 5 multiple offer deals since early January. It has worked out well for the seller, not always as well for the buyers. Buyers are competing ferociously for the good deals, and by now everyone knows a good deal when they see it. Adding to the pressure, the overall improving market and declining inventory create a panic for buyers who have been looking for months or years. Throw in the potential of an interest rate increase, and we’ve got an official buyers frenzy. Buyers understand, and rightfully so, this market is improving and whatever they see now will likely be more expensive 6 or 12 months from now – at least when it comes to the highly desirable homes. Some buyers started thinking about buying in 2011, didn’t like what they saw in 2012 or were cautious about where the market was heading. Now in 2013 there is a huge carry over of buyers from the previous year joining the emerging buyers that appear every spring.
Monticello just listed www.91VanSchoick.com and in a matter of 4 days we had 10 showings, multiple offers, and now it’s under contract for above list price. This wasn’t the first multiple offer experience of the year either. The culprit is the dramatically declining inventory of homes, which fell 15.2% from last year to 6,588 homes for sale in the Capital Region. This is the lowest inventory count for any month since June 2007 in the Albany area and the 15th straight month of inventory declines.
The sharp contraction in inventory has pushed Albany home prices higher. The Capital Region median home sales price increased 3.2% to $196,043 in February 2013 – the 13th consecutive month of year over year price gains and the highest February median home sales price since February 2004. Overall pending home sales in February 2013 were down 5.3% from the same time last year. The decline in pending home sales could be caused by declining inventory as much as anything, with buyers waiting to pounce on new listings in April and May.
Below is the full Capital Region Skinny. As always, if you have questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact us. To search for all that declining inventory of available homes for sale, check out the search pages.
